a blog supplementing the Images of America book from Arcadia Publishing

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Downtown 1958

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Solid

January 12, 1921, American Architect

We first encountered the First National Bank (second iteration) as featured in this architectural journal back in 2014: http://menashabook.blogspot.com/2014/12/stately.html. In the last few years, during its removal for the new office tower, much was made of its stately appearance, with its iconic columns, and the lament as to their disposition. But little, if anything, was said about its magnificent interior. If the unspoken message of a bank was represented by its appearance, then this bank had it in the greatest degree. Solid, unyielding, almost fortress-like, it was a cathedral of finance. Even the ornate skylights mimicked being in church. I remember being in this bank as a small boy and simply being in awe at the hard marble writing desk which I couldn't even reach. I regret that these photographs aren't in color.

3 comments:

David, your description of the bank as awe inspiring is right on. In ~1953 - 1956 I made my weekly deposit of 25 cents into their "Xmas club." I always entered the bank with trepidation but one look at that vault door and the brass tellers' cages always made me feel my stash was safe. This building represented the reassurance and security that grown-ups provided to our world.Jim Krahenbuhl

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Menasha was carved from the northeastern Wisconsin wilderness in the late 1840s. At the confluence of the Fox River and Lake Winnebago, the town’s early entrepreneurs and industrialists sought the promise of waterpower to fuel their mills and kick-start the engine of commerce. Taming the Fox with dams, canals, and a lock, Menasha initially made its mark with flour mills and lumber-based industry. At one time, the city was home to the largest manufacturer of wood-turned products in the world. In the late 19th century, however, the tides of change once again washed upon the city and industrial focus shifted to the paper industry. What made Menasha great were dependable waterpower, plentiful rail connections to centers of commerce in Milwaukee and Chicago, and a prolific labor force that coincided with an influx of European immigrants.